Haunting Past
by tv-addict007
Summary: What will happen when your past starts to haunt you and you can do nothing to get away from it? Tony will get some surprising and shocking news about his past and life. But will he be okay or is his past going to bring him down? Can the team help him? TIVA
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I know, you're probably asking yourself why I'm already posting a new story, but I thought this one was ready to post. I've already the first ten chapters of this story. But don't worry, I should be able to post a new chapter of "Family" next week and am currently writing on the next chapter of "Ray of Hope".**

**I hope you enjoy this story. It actually was the very first one I wrote.**

**All mistakes are on me :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It was one of those days, on which he should've stayed in bed. Currently the team had no case, which meant paperwork for everyone. Gibbs was on a coffee run, so that the three agents were alone in the bullpen. Agent DiNozzo was now looking at his watch for the third time in the last two minutes.

"Maybe my watch is broken? " he murmured. He couldn't believe that it was just midday.

"I can assure you that my watch is showing me the same, Tony." replied McGee. The bad mood of Tony started to slowly annoy him. "You don't need to look at your clock every two minutes. The day still won't go faster if you do so."

"Thanks for the tip, McGlock. Next time I'll let you know if I want your opinion on something." Tony replied sarcastically. "Don't you think that McGoo has a little too much fun doing paperwork today?" asked Tony and looked to his beautiful partner.

Ziva, who had decently kept out of their bickering until now, tore her eyes for the first time from her screen. "Don't let him get to you, McGee. The more you are responding, the more fun has he annoying you. Just because he is in a bad mood does not mean that we have to have one too." While she spoke to McGee, she smirked at Tony. "Now I would be grateful if the two of you could let me stay out of your bickering. I want to take care of my paperwork, so that I can for once go home at a reasonable time." With that, Ziva ended the conversation and looked down on her screen again.

Tony looked thoughtfully to his partner. Normally she'd join in in the bickering. She always enjoyed it just like him. But unlike him, she usually was on McGee's side. But there were times in which she was on his side though. She often had helped him, searching through McGee's things. Even when she just sat at her desk and warned him, when McGee was coming into the bullpen. But today, she was a little too busy doing paperwork. "McGee….. it looks like our little Ninja has big plans." Tony grinned to Ziva. Ziva ignored Tony and continued with her work. In the last few years, she learnt how to ignore him when he was getting on her nerves. Nobody should encourage his annoying side.

Before Tony could state something else, Gibbs came into the bullpen. "Grab your gear. We have a new case."

"Thank god. I thought, that I'll die of boredom!" Tony said relieved. "Not that murder is something good…" He quickly added when he saw the sharp stare of Gibbs. DiNozzo grabbed his gear and followed the others to the elevator. "After all it's never good when someone dies and…" Tony felt the slap to the back of his head before Gibbs even touched his head. "Thanks, boss." He could see Ziva and McGee grinning from the corner of his eye.

* * *

"Petty Officer Logan Rast, 30 years, single, stationed in Norfolk. Two hikers found him like that this midday." Gibbs looked to the hikers. They looked like ordinary citizen, who wanted to make the most of a nice day like today. If you looked closely, you could see that they looked a little nervous and anxious. Understandable. You didn't stumble every day over a dead body. "The police could not find any evidence. The killer was careful not to leave any trace."

Gibbs let his gaze shortly wander over the scene. The surrounding area was unaffected. There were no traces on the ground. It was as if the petty officer came out of nowhere and just dropped dead. "McGee look around and search for evidence, Tony pictures, Ziva interview the hikers. Maybe they saw something after all."

Agent Gibbs walked over to Ducky and Palmer. Ducky was just in the middle of one of his stories and Palmer listened closely to his mentor. Gibbs eyed the victim a little more closely. It was obvious that the Petty Officer, though his age of 30, looked very young. He had had without a doubt good chances with women. He had short, black hair. His face was prominent and his body was very muscular. It was a pity that he had to die like that. "What do you have for me, Duck?"

"Well, when I look at the body, my first assumption would be that this shot wound has led to the death of the Petty Officer. He bled to death. TOD approximately four hours ago. However, if we consider, the depth of the shot wound and this small pool of blood which surrounds the Petty Officer, there is only one conclusion."

"He was murdered somewhere else."

"You're right, Jethro. The Petty Officer was murdered somewhere else, pulled apparently in a car and then was brought here. Maybe the killer had hope that no one would find the body so quick. In fact, that reminds me of one of my professors. He always had …."

"Gibbs!"

Ziva stepped to men. "The names of the two hikers are Branda Fynn and Nick Dougan. They work both for a small café which has closed today. They wanted to use the free time and have arranged to meet up and go hiking. When they have found the body, they have immediately informed the ranger and had him called the police. However, they have not seen anybody and have not heard anything suspiciously that could help us. I have noted their contact data and told them that we would contact them, if further questions should arise."

"Boss!" McGee called. "I found something that you should see."

"What is it, McGee?"

McGee pointed at a place on the ground where one could see tire tracks. "Bring them to Abby. Good work, McGee. Looks like our killer hadn't covered all of his tracks."

* * *

The three Agents sat at their desks and tried to find out who had murdered Petty Officer Rast when Gibbs came into the Bullpen.

"What do we have so far?"

Tony took the remote control. "Petty Officer Rast was an average citizen. Grown up in a suburb of DC. His mother is a librarian and his father is a gardener. He has a little sister, Eva Haas. She is a teacher in an elementary school in Baltimore. Rast had been two years in Afghanistan before he had been stationed here. His friends told me that he was liked by all and has never had, actually, problems with anyone. Petty Officer Rast was engaged once with a Clara Reese. Nevertheless, the engagement was broken up after six months. The family of Rast told us that the two haven't had been in contact ever since."

"His finances are also unobtrusive." Ziva took over for Tony. „There were no unusual payments operated and no unusual payments in his bank account were made."

"Petty Officer Rast was always at work on time and had practically never called in sick. He was liked by his colleagues very much, because if needed he offered to take over a shift. I was told that Rast was up for a promotion soon. Maybe one of his colleagues had felt bypassed?"

"DiNozzo, McGee. Interview Rast's colleagues. Maybe they know something." He looked to Ziva. "See you tomorrow morning. Sharp at seven o'clock." Gibbs took his coffee and made his way to Abby.

"Why can go you? We've just got a new case!" Tony looked perplexed to his exotic partner.

"Because I have already asked Gibbs at the beginning of the week if I could go today on time." Ziva escaped his look. Since the incident with Deering and their new "us", Tony and Ziva told each other a little bit more from their private life. However, Ziva didn't plan to tell Tony about her meeting this evening. She was meeting a friend with whom she hadn't met up for a long time. Ziva didn't think it was of importance that Tony knew. She has told him about Tali and has introduced him to Shmiel. For Ziva, this was a big step. To let somebody so deep in her private life was extremely uncomfortable for her. It was difficult for her and she knew that it was also not easy for him. But they tried. Were more open with each other. Nevertheless, she didn't want to tell Tony about her plans she had for tonight. Everyone was allowed to have a few little secrets. Moreover, she enjoyed it to see how Tony was trying to find out her plans for the evening.

"So you have plans for today." Tony stated, trying not to look too curious. But he couldn't help himself. "What is it? A doctor's appointment? A date?" Tony tried to edge out the feeling of jealousy.

"It is none of your business, Tony." Ziva smiled to Tony. She packed her bag, bid her goodbye to the two men and disappeared in the elevator.

Deep in thoughts, Tony still looked at the spot where Ziva had stood not even a minute ago. "Do you think she has a date?" Ziva hadn't answered him. He was worried about Ziva and her plans. What if Ziva actually had a date with another man? He actually thought that they were on the way to a relationship.

After all those years, it would be at the time that they'd risk a relationship. But something has always gotten in their way. The first time where he had thought it could change the relationship of the two, Jeanne had interfered. At that time, it was for the best that nothing had happened between them. It wouldn't have been right at that time. He hadn't been ready for a relationship with Ziva and Ziva too, had shown no interest in a relationship in general. After the whole Jeanne disaster, he had had to get his life back in place again. He had had to think about his feelings and had had to order his thoughts and aims anew. He had thought he would have enough time. But he had been wrong. He had had to find out that Ziva was already in a relationship. It had occupied him day and night. He had been too slow and now another man had had the luck to call her as his girlfriend. He could do nothing but be glad for her. Now we've seen where this relationship has led her.

Michael hadn't been the one she thought he was. It had pained him to know that she would go home to Michael. But the pain he had felt when Michael died and Ziva had stayed in Israel was so much bigger. However, when Tony had found out that she died in Somalia, it had given him the final blow. He wanted to have revenge and if he'd died for that cause, this would have also made no difference to him. What he had found however in Somalia, was so much more important than revenge. He had found her. His partner. He had gotten her out of that terrorist camp alive.

The time after the camp and Somalia had been a rough time. At the beginning he didn't know how he should behave towards her. After some time a feeling of normality came again. What had surprised him though, was that she had entered another relationship barely a year after the events in Somalia. Tony hadn't wanted to make the same mistakes like the first time with Michael and had kept out of her relationship with Ray. Even if that relationship didn't sit right with him.

When he got to know E. J. then, he had thought he could forget Ziva. Both had actually thought, they could forget the other. But obviously it hadn't been that easy. Tony had noticed, that he didn't want a future with E. J. Yes, he had had a nice time with her, but it was just not right. Ziva had noticed this only later. She had held Ray for another man. Like Micheal he had played her.

Now, months after the end of her relationship they have arrived at a point at which they had to decide whether they wanted more with each other, or not. They both have lately gotten closer to each other. They told themselves more and let the other be involved in each other private lives. Well, he thought they were.

"If you'd deal just as half as much with the case, like you do with our private life's, which actually is none of your business, then we'd absolutely make a faster headway."

Tony replied nothing more and tried to concentrate on the case. But he didn't succeed. He looked thoughtfully to the now empty desk of Ziva. Tony thought that the both may be on the right course were they were more than just partners and friends. He tore his thoughts away from Ziva and looked away. They had a case to solve. It wouldn't be fair to Petty Officer Rast if they wouldn't give all they had. Maybe he had interpreted everything wrong and Ziva was only interested in his friendship. Tony let out an irritated sign. Why must everything always be so complicated?

* * *

"Thank you very much. We'll contact you if we have any further questions." Tony and McGee bid their farewell to Graham Pierce, a colleague of Rast. The interview of Rast's colleagues left them with no new insights. Nobody noticed anything strange. They were rather shocked to hear that Rast was killed. Now McGee and Tony stood in front of the building in which Rast had worked and enjoyed the last sunrays of the day.

"I think this case is odd. Until now, we couldn't find anybody in Rast's work environment, who didn't like the guy. Apart from the fact that this is uncommon, somebody has to be out there who didn't like him. Nobody on this earth can be liked from everyone he knows!" Tony didn't know what he should think of this case. According to the information of family and colleagues nobody would've wanted to kill Rast. But somebody had done it and this somebody had covered up his tracks damn well.

"We have to keep searching. At some point we'll find a track that will lead us to the killer."

Tony let his thoughts slip from Rast to Ziva again. She always had the ability to distract him, even when he tried really hard to concentrate on other things.

"You never answered my question about Ziva's plans. Do you know something?"

McGee let out an annoyed sigh. „No, I don't know anything about that Tony. If she wanted me to know, she'd have told me and I think the same goes for you."

"But aren't you curious? Just a little bit?"

"It's not the question whether you're curious, but rather whether you can control that curiosity."

"Your psycho babbling is killing me, McWoman. I..." Tony heard suddenly a bang. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw McGee pulling out his gun and searching cover behind a car. He looked over to him and screamed something, but Tony couldn't hear a thing. Suddenly he felt a piercing pain in the chest. He looked down and saw how his shirt was slowly covering itself with blood. All of the sudden he was tackled out of the line of fire and was pulled behind a car. After that everything faded to blackness.

* * *

**Like? Don't like?**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, a quick update :)**

**Thanks for the great response :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Ziva had a relaxing evening so far. It felt good to spend some time with an old friend. She hadn't had so much fun in a long time. After her father had died, she hadn't had really that much time for herself. She was on a night out with her friend, Hilary. After they had eaten something, they went to the cinema and watched a movie. Tony would be ecstatic if he'd knew she had been at the cinema. When the movie had been over they went to a bar. The evening was just too good to end it now. Then about midnight the both of them had called it a night and went home.

As Ziva got out of her shoes and jacket, she saw her cell phone lying on the table. Just now she had noticed that she had forgotten it at home. Hopefully Gibbs hadn't called her and noticed that she was breaking rule number three. Never be unreachable!

She took her cell and looked if anyone tried to reach her. Indeed, she had three missed calls. Two from McGee and one from Gibbs. Maybe they made a huge headway on the case and needed her?

McGee hadn't left any message at his first call. Gibbs also didn't leave one and she contemplated calling him, but she wanted to see first if McGee had left a message on his second try. The second call from McGee had been made five minutes after his first try and he left a massage for her.

"Hi, err, Ziva … God, I don't know how to tell you this,...something happened." Ziva had a difficult time understanding him. He spoke quietly and sounded like he hadn't been sure what to tell her. She concentrated harder on his voice. "It's Tony. We were questioning Rast's colleagues when it happened. Ziva, Tony was shot." Everything was quiet. "We are at Bethesda at the moment. Tony's condition is still unknown. They wheeled him immediately into the OR." Ziva's heart pounded faster with every word McGee was saying. "Please, call me as soon as you've got this message!"

This couldn't be happening. Certainly it was just Tony who wanted to mess with her for not telling him her plans and somehow got McGee to leave this message for her. It had to be! But there had been something in McGee's voice that made her shudder, besides Gibbs tried to reach her too. Tony may be able to pull McGee into things like that, but Gibbs? Never.

Determinedly she called his cell. "Come on!" But she reached only the mail box of her partner. She tried it again. This had to be a joke. But again, she wasn't welcomed by the joyful voice of her partner. She chose to call McGee next. But he too, wasn't answering his cell. She was furious. She obviously couldn't reach anyone.

"Damn it!" She put on her shoes and jacket again and went out the door. She was just happy that she hadn't had that much alcohol at the bar. A cab ride to Bethesda would definitely take longer than with her own car.

* * *

"McGee!"

Before she arrived at Bethesda she briefly tried calling McGee again. This time he had answered and promised her he'd wait for her at the entrance of the hospital. He stood with the back to her at the entrance and as he turned towards her she saw that his clothes were full of blood. A lot of blood. His blood. All of the sudden Ziva felt nauseous, but she tried to suppress the feeling of sickness.

"Are there any new on his condition?" No 'Hello'. No 'What had happened exactly'. Ziva tried to look anywhere but on the blood-soaked clothes of McGee.

"No. He's still in the OR. Nobody has given us any new 'till now." McGee could see that the answer didn't satisfy her. "What happened?" asked Ziva. She needed details.

McGee breathed deeply through his nose. "I don't know. Everything had happened so fast. One moment Tony and I were standing in front of the building and talked and in the very next moment, someone shot at us." Honestly, McGee still couldn't understand fully what had happened yet. When he had heard the shot going off, he had pulled his gun on instinct and had searched for cover. He had seen Tony just standing there and had called for him. He didn't understand why he just stood there instead of moving out of the line of fire. He had gotten out from his safe spot and had run to Tony, tackling him to the ground and pulling him behind a parked car. Only then did he notice that he was hit and he had tried to stop the bleeding, but there was so much. From the distance he had heard the ambulance approaching. He didn't know who had called them but he was thankful and relieved that help was already on its way. The whole time Tony hadn't been responsive. As soon as the ambulance had arrived, they strapped him on a stretcher, loaded him in and drove off. McGee had followed them in the NCIS service car.

While he had been in the waiting room, he had received a phone call from a Detective. They had found the place from where the shooter shot at them. The shooter had left his rifle behind. However, McGee had the feeling that they won't find any fingerprints. Why else would the shooter leave his rifle behind?

McGee was pulled from his thoughts by Ziva "What did you say?"

"I asked if the others are here, too. Are you okay?"

"Yes…I was just lost in thoughts. The others are already in the waiting room. Maybe we should join them."

* * *

The whole waiting room was silent. Gibbs stood with a cup of coffee in one corner and talked quietly to Ducky. Abby sat on a chair and leaned her head onto McGee's arm. Besides them sat Jimmy and Breena. Ziva was sitting alone, two chairs between her and Breena. She wasn't in the mood for conversation. She just sat there, staring straight at the white double door, wishing someone would finally come through them and tell them that everything was okay. But so far, nobody came through. They already waited for four hours on any news on Tony's condition. This uncertainty was unbearable. She suddenly felt a presence next to her, but she didn't look up. She just continued staring at those doors.

"The doors won't open, just because you're staring them down."

_Gibbs._

"Why hadn't anyone given us an update on his condition yet?" Gibbs could hear her internal restlessness in her voice.

"Ziva, I'm sure that soon somebody will come and give us some news. Have a little bit more patience. As long as nobody comes through those doors, Tony is still alive and they're working on keeping that status."

Finally Ziva looked away from those doors and up to Gibbs. "What if he doesn't make it? What do we do then?" Her real question was what she'd do then? She had no idea what she should do without him. He had been one of her constants in her life. She'd drown without him.

"He will make it. He hadn't had survived the plague, only to now die of a shot wound. Besides Tony is a fighter." He looked again to Ziva. "If he has to be, he's one of the toughest fighter I know. Nothing will kill him that easily."

Silence again.

Just as Ziva wanted to reply something, the doors she had stared at for hours, opened. She immediately got up, ready for any news on her partner's condition. Gibbs and the others got also up as they saw a doctor entering the room.

"Family of Agent Anthony D. DiNozzo?"

Gibbs stepped forward and eyed up the young doctor in front of him. He couldn't esteem if the doctor came bearing good new or bad ones. He hoped on the first one.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs, DiNozzo's boss and the next of kin. How is he?"

The doctor exhaled deeply. „Hello, I'm Doctor Stuart. The bullet entered directly beside Agent DiNozzo's heart and got stuck there. It had took a while, because the bullet was so close to the heart and we didn't want to further complicate things, but we were able to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding. There are no life-treating injuries, but if he hadn't been brought in as fast as he was, he may have bled to death. Agent DiNozzo had lost a lot of blood. Though he will make a full recovery, he's still in a serious condition. He nearly died today. If the bullet would have entered a few millimeter to the left, he would've died on site."

"But he will make, as you have already told us, a full recovery, won't he?" asked Abby.

"Yes. It will be a long and hard time until he can work fully as an agent again, but with a lot of rest and rehab, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Can we see him?" asked Ziva and Dr. Stuart looked at her with a compassionate look.

"He's being moved into ICU as we speak. The visiting hours are shorter than the normal one and they're long since over."

The doctor looked at the many disappointed faces and took pity. "I can make an exception. But just this one time and just one person for a short time. Agent DiNozzo still is under anesthesia and won't wake up until tomorrow."

Everyone knew without speaking a word that the one person would be Ziva. They were partners and best friends after all and quite close to each other. Dr. Stuart instructed a nurse to take Ziva to Tony's room. When they arrived at Tony's room, the nurse told Ziva that she had ten minutes and left her alone. Ziva reached with shaking hands for the doorknob and opened slowly the door. She stood paralyzed by the door as she looked at her partner. If it wasn't for the steady beeping of the machines, she would've sworn he was dead. He didn't move one bit and she couldn't recognize his rising chest. He was completely pale, but Dr. Stuart already told them that he had lost a lot of blood. That it was a close call. Ziva traced with her eyes the many tubes that kept her partner alive.

Ziva took a deep breath and closed the door softly behind her. When she stood beside his bed she reached for his hand. It was cold. All in all it was a frightening sight. One, Ziva had had hoped to never see. But he was alive. He lived and that was the most important thing.

She didn't know what she'd do without him. He once had told her that he couldn't live without her and just like him she couldn't live without him. He was one of the most important people in her life. He was always by her side, not caring how dangerous it was. She broke when she had held the lifeless body of her father in her arms. Bodnar had taken away the last member of her family. She had promised herself that she'll revenge his death. However, for the one who had tried to kill Tony, there won't be any mercy. She will hunt down the person responsible for Tony's condition and make him pay for shooting at her partner and if it was the last thing she'll do.

* * *

**Don't worry, things will soon get interesting. Especially for Tony.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, chapter three is up now :)**

**Hope you'll like it...  
**

**Diclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

It was still very early in the morning. Most Agents weren't in yet. The lights were still out in the building and it looked lifeless. The only light was coming from the small bullpen in which three agents were sitting, trying to figure out who murdered the Petty Officer and tried to kill their colleague, too. None of them wanted to go home. None of them felt the need to rest while one of their own was laying seriously injured in the hospital. McGee went briefly home to change his clothes. Even if he didn't really want to, he couldn't keep walking around with Tony's blood on his clothes. Ziva also made a short trip to her apartment to change. She had wanted out of her party clothes and change into something more comfortable.

Somehow McGee felt guilty. If he would had reacted faster, maybe Tony wouldn't be in the hospital now. At least he had reacted eventually and pushed Tony out of the line of fire. The shooter could have easily fired a second shot.

"There is nothing you could've done, Tim." told Gibbs him. Of course Gibbs had seen the expression on McGee's face. He always saw everything. "You didn't know that someone would shoot at you."

McGee looked over to Gibbs. He knew that he could've done nothing to avoid it. But he felt guilty, nevertheless. From the corner of his eye he saw that he got an email. It was from the forensics. A team went through the hotel room from which the shooter had shot. They didn't find anything.

"There couldn't be found any traces of the shooter in the room or on the rifle. Everything was cleaned of any fingerprints." This information didn't really help to improve the mood of the team.

"But why did he leave his rifle behind? Normally the sniper takes his rifle with him. They leave absolutely no clues that they were ever there. But this one just left it behind." She had never got to know one sniper who would leave his rifle behind.

"He thought he wouldn't need it anymore. If he'd taken it with him, there was a small chance that someone would have seen him, carrying a suspicious looking bag. So he removed all traces and left it in the room."

This made everything even more complicated as it already was. It meant that the one who shot Tony could be a professional hit man. "The question is, did he just shoot Tony first and was going to shoot me too, or was Tony the real intended target?"

"That's what we have to find out now, McGee."

"And that's where you wrong, Agent Gibbs." replied a forth voice in the bullpen. They turned and saw Director Vance entering the bullpen. "You don't know how surprised I was when I got a phone call and was told that one of my agents was shot." Now he stood right in the middle of the bullpen. "One of our own got involved and that changes things. It was an attack on a federal agent. Therefore the FBI has jurisdiction on this one. I'm sorry, Gibbs."

"I understand, Sir." Vance looked surprised at Gibbs. He suddenly got the feeling that the man planned something. But it was probably better if he knew not that much.

"Then this matter is sorted out and you can continue solving the case of Petty Officer Rast." These were Vance's finale words to the team, before he turned around and went to his office. Before he closed the door behind him, he looked one last time down to Gibbs, noticing the man's eyes on him. It was already an exhausting day and it hadn't even officially started yet.

As soon as Vance disappeared in his office, Gibbs reached for his cell. Ziva and McGee gave him questioning looks.

"Tobias. Please tell me that you're on the case." Silence.

"Alright. See you.", Gibbs grabbed his coat and made his way out of the building. "I going on a coffee run."

* * *

"Have you already found something?" Fornell winced slightly and turned around.

"Haven't I told you that I can't give you any information concerning the investigation? But maybe it slipped my mind, so I'll say it once ad for all: I can't give you any information on DiNozzo's case. Sorry, Gibbs."

"Come on Fornell. You already knew that I'd come and ask for information the moment you saw my caller ID."

Fornell murmured something that Gibbs couldn't quite understand, but he was sure that it were some cursing words. He just waited amused 'till Fornell finished and took a ship from his coffee. "You know Gibbs, you're just like a bulldog. If you get as much as just one chance to bite on a bone, you won't let go of it anytime soon."

Gibbs grinned and sat down next to Fornell. "You know damn well that I can't give you any information." Fornell briefly looked over to Gibbs, before he looked at his cup again. "But if I was allowed to give you information, I'd tell you that my people are still collecting facts and evidence and as soon as DiNozzo's awake, they'll questioning him. I'd also tell you that I positioned two of my agents in front of his hospital room and they won't let anyone in without authorization."

Satisfied, Gibbs got up. "Thanks, Tobias. Keep me up to date." As he walked away, he heard Fornell cursing him again and smiled.

* * *

It was 7:00am and Gibbs had been gone for the last two hours. Agents started to arrive at NCIS, ready for another day at work. McGee was with Abby, looking for results for the tire tracks he had found at their crime scene. Ziva looked at her watch. The visiting hours of the ICU had just begun. She let out a frustrated sign and looked back on her screen. They had gotten a phone call from one of Rast's colleagues half an hour ago. He remembered that Rast had met up with someone for lunch for the last few weeks. But he hadn't known the person he had met for lunch or where. That meant that this new information didn't really help them.

She looked again at her watch. She couldn't concentrate on the case anymore. She needed a break. She took her coat and wrote a short text to McGee, informing him that she was on her way to get some caffeine. If Gibbs could use this as an excuse, so could she. She felt bad for leaving McGee alone and decided to get him a cup of coffee on her way back.

* * *

As she entered the Intensive Care Unit of Bethesda, she felt like she entered a new world. Everything was white and aseptic. The nurses wore blue clothes. It was silent. Anyone who talked did it quietly and everyone was on alert, since any minute a patient could be crashing. She arrived at her destination. Room 205. Two agents were standing in front of it and guessed that they were FBI. She showed them her ID and apparently Fornell authorized the team to visit their colleague, because the two agents signaled her that she could enter.

He was still lying motionless in the bed. He wasn't as pale as yesterday, but it still wasn't his normal skin tone. She walked over to him and, like the last time, laid her hand over his bigger one. It was a little warmer and she smiled at that. With her other hand she gently run through his hair. A light stubble was beginning to show and it was a bit unfamiliar since he was always perfectly shaved, but it gave him a ruggedly touch. She leaned down and gave him a little kiss on his forehead. "Get well soon. We need you."

Ziva heard the door and being quietly opened.

"Ah, good morning, Agent David. I've already guessed that it wouldn't take long until Agent DiNozzo will have his first official visitor." Doctor Stuart looked a little more rested than yesterday. His blond hair was combed carefully to the back and his stubble had disappeared. He had a soft small on his lips.

"Good morning, Doctor Stuart. Any news?"

"Well, his condition improved slightly over night. He's slowly recovering. He should wake up soon. The FBI already asked for him. Apparently they have a few questions for Agent DiNozzo." Ziva groaned. She had nothing against the FBI, but she'd prefer it, if they could investigate the shooting themselves. Besides she had the feeling that Tony didn't know anything. If he'd knew something, he probably would have been more careful and cautious. And he certainly would have told them. "But I told them that Agent DiNozzo needs a lot of rest and that I'd call them when he was ready." Ziva gave him a thankful smile.

"Do you know when he wakes exactly? "

"No, sorry. But I guess he'll wake up in an hour or so. If you want I can call you as soon as he woke up."

"That would be nice. Thank you." She briefly squeezed Tony's hand again and made her way back to NCIS.

* * *

**Well, Fornell leads the investigation now...and Tony is going to wake up in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A quick update :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

As Ziva arrived in the bullpen again, she saw McGee sitting very concentrated at his desk. Gibbs' presence was still missing. "Is Gibbs still not back?"

Only now did McGee notice that he wasn't alone any more. "Oh, hi. No, he came back around 45 minutes ago. The family of Petty Officer Rast is in the conference room. Any news from Tony?" She could've told him anything, in the end he still knew where she had been.

"No big changes. Dr. Stuart had told me that he should wake up soon. He'll call us when he's awake." She took off her coat and looked at her messages "Two FBI agents are positioned in front of his hospital room. Fornell probably thinks that the shooter could try again." She didn't want to think all that. At the moment Tony was an easy target for the sniper. Even if he'd be awake, he was in no state to defend himself against a professional killer.

"Any hit on the tire tracks?"

"No. It's a normal car, that could drive anyone."

"Did Ducky find anything?"

"Gibbs was just down with Ducky, but after that he went straight to the conference room to speak with the family." That meant there were still no leads. The day had begun slowly and it didn't look like that it was going to get better.

* * *

Gibbs poured Mr. and Mrs. Rast a glass of water. The married couple was deeply shaken about the news that her son was murdered and Gibbs understood that. He knew how it was like to lose a child. You'll never completely move on from it. The pain will always be there. He just hoped that their relationship was strong enough. Besides their son Logan, they had a daughter too.

Gibbs looked at Mr. Rast and guessed that Rast had gotten his looks from his father. He looked slightly similar to his son. The only difference was their hair. While Petty Officer Rast had had short, black hair, Mr. Rast's were a little bit longer and instead of black it was white. While father and son looked similar to each other, Mrs. Rast looked completely different. She was one head smaller than her husband, had a delicate body figure and long, brown hair. But he guessed that Rast got his green eyes from his mother.

"Mr. Rast and Mrs. Rast, do you know if your son was in trouble? Had he any problems?"

"No. It was everything alright, just as always." Mr. Rast laid his arm around his wife's shoulder. "Just two days ago, he came home for lunch."

"Was he often at home?" There had to be something. Anything that could give them a lead.

"Logan came over for lunch once a month. Mostly it was always at the end of the month." That was the first time Mrs. Rast looked up from the floor. Tears were in her eyes.

"Yes. Logan had always told us that the best food he was getting, was at home and he was always looking forward to the end of the month." told him Mr. Rast and seemed to remember back to their time with their son.

"However, this month he came earlier than usual. He had some questions about his childhood, when he was still in the orphanage." Gibbs listened up at that. Did they finally have some information that could help them solve the case?

"Does that mean your son was adopted?" asked Gibbs to clarify. He didn't saw that one coming. If they wouldn't have told him, he would have been sure that they were blood-related.

Mrs. Rast smiled. "Yes and we have always watched out for his happiness. We didn't want him feeling like an outsider to our family just because Eva was our biological child and he wasn't. Why? Do you think that his background had something to do with his death?"

"Ma'am, we following every lead we get."

* * *

Gibbs escorted the married couple to the elevator and bid his goodbyes. At least they got a direction with the whole adoption thing.

"McGee, Petty Officer Rast was adopted. Search for any information you can get."

"Rast was adopted?" She clearly hadn't expected that.

"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Rast got him at the age of three." Gibbs turned around and walked closer to Ziva's desk. „How is he?" Of course Gibbs knew. He always did.

"According to Dr. Stuart, he is going to be fine. He promised he'd call as soon as Tony wakes up." replied Ziva. She couldn't wait for her phone to ring.

"Well, at least there're some good news today." Gibbs cell started to ring and he looked briefly on the caller ID, before he grabbed his coat. "Getting coffee." The same excuse again. "When I'm back I want to know everything there is about the adoption."

"Does he think that maybe one of the birth parents are behind the murder?"

"I do not think so. But it is the only lead we have so far." answered Ziva. She wanted to add something else when her cell started to ring.

"Agent David"

"Hello, Agent David. It's Dr. Stuart speaking. I promised to call you as soon as Agent DiNozzo woke up. Well, he's awake now."

Relief flooded through Ziva's body. "This is good to hear. Were there any problems?"

"No, no. All checks were positive. He's a little confused and tired, but nothing that wouldn't be normal after what happened to him. We'll giving him a slight dose of morphine for the pain, but it isn't much. Just to get the edge of."

"The team will be happy to hear these good news. Could you tell me what time visiting hours are over?"

"The visiting hours end at 7:00pm."

"Okay. Thanks for the call."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm sure I'll see you around. Goodbye."

"Bye." Ziva put her cell away.

"Is he awake?"

"Yes, McGee. He is awake." replied Ziva gently.

"Will you visit him today?"

"Yes. Do you want to come along?"

McGee was glad to hear that Tony was doing fine, but he still felt a bit guilty that he hadn't reacted faster. „No. I think I'll look into this adoption thing and try to find something that could help us. I'll visit him tomorrow."

Ziva suspected that there was more to the reason he didn't want to accompany her, but she wouldn't force him to tell her anything that he didn't want to. She looked down at the picture of Tony that hung on her monitor. It was the picture of Tony as a little kid. He had thrown her a puzzled look, when he noticed the picture on her monitor. Then she had just smiled briefly at him and had gone back to work. He also didn't further comment it.

She smiled. Whenever she looked at the picture, she had to smile. It always improved her mood on a bad day.

* * *

Agent Gibbs was sitting in the park, drinking coffee. Passers would just think that he was sitting n the bank, enjoying the sun, but Agent Fornell knew better. Gibbs just sat there because he had called him and arranged a meeting. He got some news for him. Not much, but if it had been one of his agents he'd want to know every little bit that there was to know, as unimportant as it may be.

"Gibbs." Fornell greeted his friend.

"Fornell."

For a short time they were just sitting next to each other in silence, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. Even when it was just for a little moment.

"What is it, Fornell?"

"On the opposite side of the building the sniper had shot from is an ATM. We didn't think it could be of used for our investigation. We we're just tracking down every lead there is."

Gibbs became slowly impatient. "Get to the point, Fornell."

"We've checked the footage of the ATM and discovered a suspicious looking person." Only now did Fornell look directly into Gibbs eyes. "Gibbs, we have the face of the man who had shot DiNozzo."

* * *

**Tony is awake and they have a new lead. Stay tuned :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone :)**

**Sorry that it took so long to update, but I'm quite busy right now with work and school, so that I don't have a lot of time to update and I don't know when I'll be able to update again.**

**For those who are reading my other story "Family", I should be able to update at the end of next week.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Did you rush it through the data bank yet? Any hits? Do you have a name?" Gibbs wanted answers and he wanted them right now.

"We rushed it through our data bank as soon as we had it and we've got a hit. The name of the suspected shooter is William Holt. But before you get too excited, I have to tell you that the name is a fake one."

"But it's a start."

"There you're right. We've send copies of his face to the police stations. They'll contact us as soon as they've found him. The whole city is searching for him, Gibbs. You just need some patience. He can't hide forever."

"I'd like to have a copy too." spoke Gibbs and turned around.

"Don't forget that this is still my case, Gibbs!" yelled Fornell after Gibbs.

"Don't worry Fornell. If the guy passes me on my coffee break and I've arrested him, I'll tell everyone that the FBI did all the hard work." replied Gibbs and grinned before he left Fornell.

"Passing on his coffee break my ass.", murmured Fornell.

* * *

"What do we have about the adoption?" Ziva and McGee startled as they heard their boss' voice. He was once again successful in sneaking up to them unnoticed. Once a marine, always a marine.

"I requested all files concerting Rast's adoption. I should have them any minute now. Furthermore I asked for the names and addresses of the biological parents. I'll get this information with the files."

"Inform us as soon as you found something interesting."

"Gibbs, I got a phone call from Dr. Stuart. Tony woke up." told him Ziva and it was good to see her smile again. She had been through a lot lately. More than other people had to go through.

"That's good to hear." replied Gibbs and smiled too. After all Tony was like a son to him.

"I met Fornell. They've a new lead in Tony's case." Now he had the full attention of the team. "They went through the footage of a cash machine opposite of the house the shooter used and got a face. William Holt. It's a fake name, but the FBI sent out copies to the police stations. They're hunting him down."

"This means we get informed as soon as Holt is spotted." McGee's attention was once again on his computer screen when he noticed that he got the files he requested.

"Did Dr. Stuart say anything else?"

"No. Until now, everything is alright."

"Gibbs!" called McGee with an alarming voice.

"What is it, McGee?"

"I've just got the files of the adoption and the names of the biological parents. You'll never guess who exactly Rast's biological mother is."

"Don't make me shoot you McGee. Who is it?"

"Her maiden name was Julia Paddington. Ten years before Rast's birth, she married and was called from then on Julia DiNozzo!" There didn't exist a lot that could shock Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but this information managed it to make him absolutely speechless. He'd never have guessed that their victim could be related to Tony.

"Does that mean that Logan Rast is Tony's brother?" asked Ziva who too was shocked by the news. Tony had never told anything. Did he even know that he had a little brother? Did Senior know that his wife had had another child?

"Well, as shocking as this is, it gives us at least a lead. Rast's murder is connected to Tony's shooting and that means that we have a picture of the killer." said Gibbs and made his way out of the bullpen.

"Where are you going, boss?"

"To Vance. He has to tell the FBI that we'll be officially working on Tony's case, too."

* * *

"You can't leave it alone, can you? You'll always have to interfere with my cases. Always!"

After Gibbs had informed Director Vance of their new information, he immediately contacted the FBI. They agreed with a shared investigation with NCIS leading the case, if they could find further evidence of a connection between Tony and Rast. At the moment, Gibbs and Fornell stood in Abby's lab, while Abby compared the DNA of Rast with the one of Tony.

"Come on, Fornell. I'd never do such a thing. I have enough to work on with my own cases. The last thing I want to do is adding your work to mine." replied Gibbs, but Fornell just looked unconvinced over to him.

"You certainly have enough time to build boats in your basement!"

"Gentlemen, if you're now finished with your disagreement, I'd like to inform you of the test results." interrupted Abby. She couldn't believe sometimes, that those two were actually friends. They outsmart each other at times and if you wouldn't really know them, you'd think that they hate each other. But that wasn't the case. They shared the same ex-wife, a fact that connected them the most. That and the fact that both of them would do anything for their teams.

"And? What are the results? "

"The better question is, whether the FBI leads the investigation or the NCIS."

"Well, according to DNA it is clear. Those two are related to each other."

"Looks like we have the lead on this joint investigation." grinned Gibbs.

"Well, I know when I've lost a battle. But there's something everyone seemed to forget."

"And what would that be?"

"Who tells DiNozzo?"

* * *

It was just midday as Ziva arrived at Bethesda. She decided to use her lunch break to visit Tony. Two hours ago he was moved out of ICU into another room, since he wasn't in a critical state anymore. There stood still two FBI agents in front of the door, but after she showed them her ID, they let her pass. As she entered the room she noticed that Tony was fast asleep. Ziva wasn't disappointed that he wasn't awake. His body needed the rest at the moment. She walked across the room and pushed a chair closer to his bed and she could hold his hand.

He already looked better. The paleness has completely disappeared. Nobody shaved him, so that he had a little beard now, but she got used to it. A small part of her even liked it. It made him look a bit more youthful.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the peacefulness. It was difficult to find some time you could just relax. Everybody was working really hard. Just as Ziva started to fall asleep, she felt a pressure on her hand. She opened her eyes and looked at their joint hands, noticing the movement of Tony's. She looked up and saw how his eyes moved behind his eyelids. Slowly they started to open and he looked groggily at her. "Ziva?"

One word. He just needed to say one word and Ziva was beaming him a smile. Unbelievable how this man could improve her mood with just one word.

"I'm here. How are you feeling?" He needed a moment to get fully aware of his surroundings. "I feel like I've been shot." joked Tony. Even if it shouldn't really be funny since he did nearly die, she had to smile. This was typically Tony. He had an odd sense of humor sometimes and somehow it rubbed off a little on her. But there were worse things out there than an odd sense of humor. "Well, that could be due to the fact that you actually were shot." They stared at each other for a short time. It was just too easy to get lost in his green eyes. "Do you need anything?"

The moment was over. Tony looked irritated around the room. "I'd be happy if I could get out of here…." Tony replied with a begging look, but he knew that it was no use. He'd be stuck in the hospital for a while.

"Sorry. That is something I can't help you with."

"Are there any new regarding my shooting yet?" And with that Ziva felt uncomfortable all of the sudden. She had no idea how to tell him of their new knowledge of the case. Because she didn't know how to approach this particular subject, she decided on a deflecting answer. "Yes".

Tony stared at her and waited. He saw in her eyes that there was more. However, apparently Ziva didn't want to go on. "Oh come on! Don't make me fight for every information on this case. What did you find out? Have you found the ass that shot me? Do you know why he shot me? _Anything_?"

"Tony." _God, when she went over the words she had prepared for this conversation on her way to the hospital, everything seemed easier._ "Your shooting is connected to our case." _Alright, good start. Very neutral and an easy opening for the news she'd have to tell him._

"I've already thought so. But the question is 'why'? I mean, I don't know the victim…"

"There's a connection between the two of you." interrupted Ziva.

Silence.

"Really Ziva? Do I have to guess or do you want it to draw a picture? Just spill it!" replied Tony annoyed and he was getting nervous. Ziva normally gave direct answers. She didn't avoid things and always spoke out the things without holding back. Direct attack. But right now, it was different. She seemed to not know how to tell him something. Couldn't find the right words. _That_ was the reason why he got more and more nervous. _Come on, it couldn't be that bad!_

Ziva rolled her eyes at her speechlessness. _That was of no use. He'll find it out eventually anyway. Better now than later from a stranger._

"Tony, Petty Officer Logan Rast was your brother."

_Maybe he had been wrong. It could be that bad._

* * *

**So I hope you liked the twist...**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry if I got some of you confused. When I started to write this story, I wasn't sure when Tony's mother died. In this story she died when he was ten. So Tony is ten years older than Rast (sorry again, I know that Tony is older than forty).**

**I hope those changes won't make this story bad.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The only thing that could be heard were the medical advices. Besides the beeping of those, the room had fallen silent. Ziva and Tony stared at each other and while Ziva tried to see if he understood what she just said, Tony looked at her, trying to find out if she played a prank on him.

After two minutes of silence, Tony finally reacted. He was an only child! "Okay, Ziva. Very funny. Now I'd like to know what's really going on."

Did he really think that she'd joke about things like that?! "Tony, this is not a joke. Abby has compared your DNA and it was confirmed. You are brothers." she spoke calmly to him. Slowly the shock was creeping in.

"My parents have never said anything. But I shouldn't be so surprised. My father was always a lady-killer. It shouldn't shock me that I do actually have brothers or sisters out there." replied Tony resigning. He couldn't believe that Senior never had told him anything! Who knew how many siblings were actually out there? He didn't want to even think about that.

"Your father has nothing to do with the fact that you have a brother. He may not even know about that. Your mother is the link between the two of you. You both have the same mother." She somehow could understand why he immediately jumped to the conclusion, that he had a brother because of his father. After all, he was a lady-killer.

"My Mom?" Tony couldn't believe it. His mother had been an angel. She had been the one he looked up to. She was kind and full of love for her family. Did she really betray his father? Obviously. A DNA test was the proof of that. And he knew Abby. She certainly had double checked everything.

Tony had been once visiting an uncle with his mom over one summer. The strange thing had been, that they stayed three months there. His dad had been at home working like most of the time and he hadn't thought much about the trip. He had been just happy to spend time with his extended family, after all they didn't see each other that much. After three days he had started to question his mother's absence, but his uncle had reassured him then. He had been always out with his cousins, playing in the park or somewhere else and his uncle told him, that his mother had been gardening and that she had been very tired. So apparently she had been already in bed when they came home in the evening and since he knew she had loved to work in the garden, he hadn't really thought much about it.

But had she really been with them at that time? Was that the time she gave birth to his brother? Why hadn't she told anything? And if this had been the time she gave birth and hadn't been at the house, his uncle had to certainly know something, hadn't he? But since his uncle had died in a car accident, it was out of question asking him.

Tony massaged his temples as a headache was slowly formed. But aside from this family drama, why did someone kill Rast and then tried to kill him too? That didn't make sense to him. Except Rast was involved in some illegal things and someone thought that he was in there too. But that too, didn't make sense to him. Until know he didn't know he had a brother and he didn't believe that a lot of people knew that they were blood-related.

"Well." started Tony, but he actually didn't know at all what to say. He had a brother and he'd never get the chance to get to know him.

"Now we have the connection. Fornell and his team have a picture of the man who shot you. He was identified as William Holt. It's a fake name." Of course it was. It'd have been too easy. This was man who knew how to leave no traces. He wouldn't have let himself be caught on camera if he didn't know already that it won't lead it to him.

Ziva felt bad. Even if she wasn't responsible for any of this, she still felt guilty. He looked so lost right know. His whole life was suddenly a mess. He probably was doubting his whole life. If you suddenly question your whole life, your existence, there was nothing that could keep you from drowning. Everything crashed on you. "Hey" spoke Ziva gently and laid her hand over his. She waited until he was looking at her. "Do not forget that we are there for you. Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ducky, Jimmy and I. At lo levad." Tony had to smile at these words. He had whispered the exact same words to her, when her world had crashed.

"I know." And now Ziva had to smile at his words, because it was the exact answer she had given him then.

Ziva noticed that Tony was starting to fall asleep again. So much excitement was too much for his body. "You should sleep. I'll come by later again."

"S'alright. Not tired." he tried to convince her, but his eyes already started to close and within seconds he was asleep.

Ziva caressed Tony's hair and gave him a little kiss on his cheek. "Laila tov, Tony. Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you."

* * *

Just two hours after Ziva's visit, he already had the next visitor. He sat down on the same chair Ziva had been sitting barely two hours ago.

"You know boss, you're not really as quiet as you always believe." greeted Tony his boss drowsily and Gibbs had to grin.

"I've never claimed to be quiet. It's just too easy to sneak up on you all."

Now Tony opened his eyes. He scrutinized his boss who was like a father to him. He looked normal. Tony berated himself. Why should he look differently? He wasn't the one who got shot.

"Ziva already told me that Petty Officer Rast was my brother." remarked Tony. Gibbs had anticipated that Ziva was faster at telling Tony. The two of them were very close. If one of them hurt, the other did too.

"Then you can maybe tell me why someone wants the both of you dead?" Well, at least Gibbs hadn't lost his bluntness. Tony liked that. He didn't want pity. Not because he got shot. Not because he had a younger brother he never knew about. And certainly not because his new found brother was killed before he got the chance to meet him. No, he definitely didn't want pity. He just wanted everything to be normal again. Like life had always been. And the bluntness and bold manner of Gibbs was just fine with him. That was normal.

"I have no idea. Up until two hours ago, I didn't even know that I have a brother. Or had." replied Tony. He still didn't want to accept the truth yet.

"But there has to be something. I think that whatever Rast knew or did, Holt thinks you do too. Or at least he assumes it." He looked at his agent. Tony was lost in thoughts and suddenly there was a small flicker in his eyes. Just for a second and then it was gone again. He certainly knew or suspected something. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. I have no idea, why someone wants me dead." Whatever it was, he obviously didn't want to share it yet.

"DiNozzo" warned Gibbs. It was okay for now if he didn't want to say anything about his hunch yet, he'll try it later again. Maybe Ziva will get something out of him.

"Alright, DiNozzo. Rest. I'll stop by tomorrow again."

"I'll be here." replied Tony sarcastically.

Just as Gibbs reached the door, it opened and Dr. Stuart entered the room.

"Ah, Agent Gibbs. Nice to see again you. It seems that Mr. DiNozzo has a lot of visitors." smiled Dr. Stuart.

"What can I say, Doc? I'm loved by everyone."

"I can see that."

"Well, it's time to go. Tony, Dr. Stuart." he nodded his goodbye and left the room.

"And how is my patient doing today?"

"I feel fine. When can I leave?" asked Tony and Dr. Stuart sighed. He had already guessed that this would be the first question from Tony. He was certainly one of the bad kind of patients. The kind that made the life of their doctor more difficult.

"Agent DiNozzo. We already had this conversation. Do you remember?"

Now it was Tony's turn to sigh, but his sigh sounded more annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. I can leave the hospital at the end of the week at the earliest. I just feel fine because of the pain meds and when I'm finally out of the hospital, I have to do months of physiotherapy, blah blah blah. Listen Doc, I'll go crazy in this room. Is there really no chance that I could leave sooner?" tried Tony again.

"I'm sorry, Tony. I can't let you leave earlier." Dr. Stuart could understand him. Nobody liked to be in a hospital. "Well, I have to go and visit my other patients. A nurse will stop by anytime soon to give you something to eat and she'll do a few routine tests too. I'll stop by later again."

"See you later, Doc"

Now he was finally alone. He thought of the case again. It couldn't be, could it? No, he dropped his own little private investigations a long time ago. Everything was fine until now. But of course, if someone continued investigating, some people have certainly gotten nervous. The logical step was elimination of the threat in their opinion. And while they were at it, why not eliminate the other threat too, not caring if it was an active threat or not. They'd be on the safe side. Maybe there was a special offer out there. A bonus for everyone who didn't just kill one person, but two! Stop it! Sarcastic thought won't get you anywhere, so concentrate, DiNozzo!

The headaches became worse again. Maybe I should really sleep for a while and try to solve the problem later. Tony closed his eyes and tried to sleep a little bit.

* * *

"Finally! I waited an eternity for you to get here." welcomed Fornell while he sat at Gibbs' desk and drunk coffee. "Where have you been the whole time? I've tried to call you."

Gibbs stood patiently in front of his desk. "Well Fornell, you like my desk much?"

"Can't complain."

"I was visiting DiNozzo." replied Gibbs and suddenly all eyes were on him. Though Ziva had just been at the hospital a few hours ago, she was very nervous that something might have happened.

"How's he doing?"

"He's DiNozzo. He's annoying his attending Doctor."

"How did he take the news?"

"Don't ask me that. One of my agents had been faster than me." All sets of eyes looked over to Ziva. Interesting why everyone would immediately assume that it had been her. Sure, they were close to each other, but it could have been easily Abby that visited Tony. After all they were like brother and sister.

Ziva swallowed. "He had not believed it at the beginning, but when I confirmed it for the second time, he had been shocked. But we all would have been shocked after getting such news. I also have told him about Holt. He doesn't know him. He knows nothing that could help us with the investigation."

"I don't think so." added Gibbs and now everyone was looking at him.

"Does he hide something from us, Gibbs? But why would he hide something significant from us that could help us? After all, we just want to help him."

"Tony hides information for only one reason. It's something personal."

* * *

In a hotel room across the city rung a cell phone.

"Yes?"

"Is it done?" asked a rough voice.

"Petty Officer Rast is dead." relied the man with a cold voice.

"Good. And Agent DiNozzo?"

The man already knew that the caller won't like the answer he'd get. "Still alive."

"And why exactly isn't he dead yet?" asked the rough voice impatiently.

"He unfortunately survived the shooting."

"Then you just have to make sure that he won't survive another one. DiNozzo has to be taken out. It's too dangerous to let him live. So do your job and take care of this problem!"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

* * *

**Have a nice week :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry it took so long, but here's the next chapter.**

**I hope you'll enjoy it.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The first thing Tony noticed was the darkness. He had wanted to take a short nap after dinner, but it seemed that he had slept for longer than he had planned. The next thing he noticed was a foreign weigh on his right hand. It was a soft hand, smaller than his and fitted perfectly into his hand. Next came the smell. He knew that small anywhere. Vanilla. Only his little Ninja smelt like that. He smiled and was proud of himself that he figured that all out without even opening his eyes.

He had to wait a few seconds for his eyes to get used to the darkness. She seemed fast asleep and looked very peaceful. But as much as he hated the thought of waking her, she'll regret sleeping on this uncomfortable chair in the morning. He knew that this chair would be certainly the death of his back. Though she looked peaceful, he couldn't let her sleep on that instrument of torture.

He squeezed her hand gently. "Ziva." he murmured softly, but she showed no reaction. He tried it a little bit louder. "Ziva."

Her eyes opened slowly. "What…? Tony? What is wrong? Did something happen?" she asked alerted. In a matter of seconds she switched from a sleepy woman to a woman, who was ready to fight.

Tony tried to calm her immediately. "Everything is fine."

"Then why did you wake me up?"

"You should go home. This chair is anything but comfortable."

"Don't worry. I have been in worse situations."

"That may be the case, but I hadn't been there then. I won't let you spend the night on that cruel thing. Go home. Rest. I won't run anywhere. My doctor and these two gorillas in front of my room would catch me before I could even reach the elevator. "

"I do not trust the FBI. I won't let you be alone at night. You can grumble as much as you want, I will not go anywhere."

Tony had the feeling that he couldn't change her mind. She was as stubborn as always. If she had set something in her mind, nobody could talk her out of it. But Tony had to admit that he was happy that she wouldn't leave.

He slid a little to the side and tapped on the now free spot beside him and Ziva just raised unimpressed a brow. "Come on. This is a solution for our problem. You don't want to go home and I don't want you to sleep in that chair. Besides, it's not the first time we share a bed." Reasoned Tony and she contemplated if she should hit him for that dirty smile or not. "Please. Do it for me and my conscience."

He could see her internal fight in her eyes, but he suppressed the laughter. After a minute, Ziva seemed to surrender to her faith and went to lay down next to him on the small bed. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist. She really could get used to that. On her lips was a faint smile. "Good night, Ziva."

"Laila tov, Tony"

* * *

Gibbs looked up as Ziva entered the bullpen. She looked well rested and he asked himself if this had something to do with one of his other agents. "You're late."

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. I overslept." excused Ziva herself and it wasn't even a lie. When she had woken up this morning, Tony had been still sleeping deeply and she couldn't have torn herself away. After a half an hour later, she had finally gotten out of bed and as much as she didn't want to, she still had had to go home to shower and change. That had been the reason for her unpunctuality. "Any new leads?"

Gibbs didn't press for further information and changed the subject too. "No, there hadn't been any developments. Has Tony said something?"

"No. If he really knows or suspects something, then he didn't let it show."

Gibbs looked over to McGee. He was quieter than usual. Gibbs got the feeling that he was still feeling somewhat guilty over what had happened with Tony. As far as he knew, the young agent hadn't visited his colleague in the hospital yet. _Maybe I should talk to him._ "Ducky, Palmer and Abby want to visit Tony on their lunch break. You can join them if you want to."

While Ziva was obviously pleased with those news, McGee didn't show any indication of joining in with his friends and confirmed Gibbs thoughts with that. He just wanted to say something to the young man as his cell rang.

Irritated of the disturbance, he accepted the call. "Gibbs."

"_It's me, Fornell."_ greeted him the FBI agent, but there was something in his voice that Gibbs didn't like and that meant that there were most certainly bad news. "What's going on, Fornell?"

"_There was an incident at the hospital..."_ That was all that Fornell could say before he was interrupted by Gibbs. "What happened?"

"_Someone disguised himself as a doctor and wanted to inject your boy a high dose of morphine. As soon as my people noticed that something wasn't right, they entered the room and surprised the assassin. He hadn't been able to inject the full dose. The doctors checked him through and told me that everything was fine and that he had been lucky. However, the assassin could flee. He had knocked out my men. One of them has a broken arm and several cracked rips and the other one has a slight concussion and a broken nose. Damn it Gibbs, that ass is well trained."_

"I'll be there ASAP. Don't let _anyone_ to DiNozzo!" told Gibbs and hung up. _D__amn it! That was already the second attempt on DiNozzo. I don't want to know how many he could actually survive. _

"Gibbs?" it seemed like the team noticed the change of his mood. "Did something happen?"

"That was Fornell. Somebody tried to kill Tony."

* * *

"Tony!"

It would have surprised him if she wouldn't have come to the hospital as soon as she got informed of what happened. Ziva hurried to his bed and caressed his hair. Somehow she liked to do that. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." assured her Tony and motioned to the two injured FBI agents. "Bud Spencer and Terrance Hill over there had interrupted the attacker in the very last minute. They've surprised him and chased him away, but not before getting beaten down by him. I really feel sorry for them."

"I am sure they did everything they could. Otherwise you'd be not alive anymore." Only now did Tony notice that Gibbs and Fornell stood in his room. He hadn't thought that there may be someone else in the room, since Ziva rarely showed affection and especially not in front of others.

"Nevertheless your agents let it come that far. Actually, this man shouldn't even have gotten the chance to enter this room!" remarked Gibbs angrily and actually had a point. "From now on, my agents will take over the protection detail for Tony."

"If you want to use your own agents for protection, then do it. I won't hold you back."

Gibbs looked to Ziva. "Ziver"

Ziva looked confused to her boss. "Gibbs?"

"You'll be DiNozzo's protection detail." He didn't need her response, he already knew that she'd do it.

"Of course Gibbs. You can count on me. Nobody will get to Tony."

"Can I express my opinion too?" asked Tony. He hadn't wanted a protection detail from the start. If he wouldn't be connected to so many cables and tubes, he'd be walking up and down the room, reasoning with the three other people in the room.

"No!" _Wow, at least they all agree on that point._

"If you want to help, DiNozzo, why don't you start with telling us what you know?" pointed out Fornell. He wasn't in the mood for the game DiNozzo seemed to play. Everyone knew that he was hiding something and he wanted to stop the lying. If they wanted to solve the case, they had to work together and share their knowledge.

Now Tony looked away and started to get restless. "I don't know what you're talking about, Fornell."

"Oh, come on! You know something and as long as we don't know what it is, it just makes our job more difficult than it already is."

"Fornell is right, DiNozzo. If you know anything, then you should inform us. Otherwise we can't help you."

"Tony. Come on, tell us what you know." He looked unsure between Gibbs and Fornell, until his eyes rested on Ziva. He couldn't withhold it anymore. What purpose would it have? The whole thing had escaladed some time ago.

Tony made a decision. "Ultimately this whole thing goes back to the day my mother died." The room was silent. Everyone waited for Tony to continue. "My mom hadn't just died because of her sickness. She was murdered. Murdered with poison. At that time however, the doctors hadn't been able to find any sign of external influences. So they had done the thing they had been most comfortable with. They had grabbed their books and picked out the sickness that fitted to the most of her symptoms."

Tony looked at no one. He couldn't. The only thing he saw were the events that had taken place many years ago. Suddenly he was the ten year old boy again, who was thrown out of the room when his mother's heart stopped beating. The boy who had lost at this very moment one of the most important people in his life. His mother. The one person who had been the closest to him. "That's one of the reasons why I started to become a police officer. I wanted to find out what really happened. Had it been really just some sickness or were the rumors about the external influence true?"

Tony inhaled deeply. "After a while strange things had started to happen. Someone broke in my apartment, but nothing had been stolen. It had just been vandalized. The strange things continued and had started to spread into my work life. My Captain had ordered me to stay away from that case. That I was just imagine something that wasn't really there. Next thing I knew, someone had cut the brakes of my car. I also got anonymous threats in which mostly the same was stated. If I wouldn't back off, people close to me would get killed. I had been very stubborn then and thought that someone was just messing with me. So I ignored the threats and nothing had happened in the beginning. But two weeks later, a good friend of mine had been attacked and died from his injuries. The police had declared it as an attack from a gang. But at this night, most gangs had been on the other side of the city because of an event. And even if they hadn't been at this event, it certainly hadn't been a district they would've hung out. Too many cops patrolled that particular area. So I thought that this was somehow connected to me and the threats I have gotten. I've stopped everything and those strange things stopped too. And until now, everything had been fine. I've never gotten any threats again."

Everyone in the room listened closely to Tony. They couldn't believe what they just heard and nobody dared to say something. Well, of course nobody but Gibbs. "So that means that Rast may have investigated the death of your mother after discovering who she had been. But he seemed not to care about threats and odd occurrence and had paid for that with his life."

Fornell cleared his throat. "Perhaps whoever is behind this all thinks that Rast and DiNozzo worked together and wants them both gone. But then, why hadn't he killed DiNozzo at the start of his investigation? If you don't want something to come up later and bite you in the ass, you have to eliminate every threat straight from the beginning."

"That's what we have to find out, Fornell. Ziva stay with Tony. Protect him."

"Don't worry, Gibbs. Nobody will get past me!"

* * *

_Damn it! It couldn't be that hard to kill DiNozzo, could it?! _

Hunt arrived back in his hotel room. It had been a close call, but in the end, those two FBI agents had been not a big problem for him. Their training hadn't been that good and he'd had worse to fight against than them. If the two would've come in just twenty seconds later, DiNozzo would be dead by now and he finally would have had ended this damn job. Now he had to wait for another opportunity, but that was no problem. He had time. He'll get the perfect moment and then DiNozzo won't be that lucky again.

Hunt smirked evilly. Somehow he was happy that he'd been interrupted. That gave him the chance to make his death more pleasurable for him and more painful for his target.

* * *

**I wish you all a nice Weekend :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi, I'm sorry for taking so long. I had not a lot of time to write lately.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

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**Chapter 8**

The end of the week came slowly, much to Tony's chagrin, since he did want to spend as little time in the hospital bed as he could. But today the wait was finally over and he could get released, even if Dr. Stuart wasn't happy about it. The whole morning he tried to persuade him to stay longer at the hospital, but Tony had just wanted the discharge papers. He didn't want to stay longer, he had spent enough time here. Honestly, Tony didn't know why he was so against hospital, maybe it was because of his many bad memories he had. Hospitals always made him feel uncomfortable. He had gotten his only comfort from Ziva's presence. Since she was in charge of his protection, the time at the hospital hadn't been so boring anymore. She could get him on other thought by watching movies and their usual bickering and since she had had now a good reason for staying overnight, Dr. Stuart had taken care of getting another bed in Tony's room.

But now he was presented with another question. Where will he stay? He had been offered many possibilities, but he hadn't decided on something yet. One of his options was a safe house offered by the FBI and a FBI protection detail. Another option was Gibbs. The man had offered him with few words that he would be welcomed to stay with him. Naturally Ziva too, had offered him to stay with her and she had told him that McGee was offering his apartment for him too. Of course, he could just go to his own apartment, but somehow, even after many disagreements, all parties agreed that this would be just too dangerous for him. Tony hadn't been able to decide and weighted all advantages and disadvantages of each offer, but it didn't seem to help him with his decision when all of the sudden he had gotten a phone call from his dad. As surprised as he had been, he had been at a loss of words when his dad had offered him another possibility for his accommodation while he recovered from his injuries. Well, Senior didn't offer it directly but Tony had had no other idea as to why Senior would've brought up their old family cabin outside of D.C. and Tony really had completely forgotten all about their cabin.

When he had still been a kid, he and his parents had gone to their cabin every summer and Tony had always enjoyed every second of their stay. Those trips to the cabin had been the only times Senior really accompanied them. It wasn't anything special, but in Tony's opinion it was wonderful. It was made out of wood and it existed of three rooms. A bathroom, a bedroom and a big open space that served as a little living room with an open kitchen in one of the corners. There was a little lake near the cabin at which he and Senior used to go fishing and in the evening they sometimes made a small campfire. It had been just perfect for a little boy like him and Tony smiled as he thought back of their good times as a family. Sure the cabin was fantastic, but nobody was going to agree on this. It was too far outside and offered no real protection if something should happen, but he couldn't get rid of the thought of going there.

While Ziva packed his bag, he was in the bathroom changing into something more comfortable than the hospital gown. It was more difficult than he thought since he couldn't fully move his left arm yet and every wrong move hurt. When he had finally changed he left the room and saw that Dr. Stuart was already there with his discharge papers, talking to Ziva. "Ah, Doc! Are you here to release me from this prison?"

"Agent DiNozzo. Don't you want to consider your decision again?" asked Dr. Stuart and Tony was really impressed by his stubbornness.

"Sorry, Doc. I have to get out of here. The faster the better! I'm fine." replied Tony and reached for his bag Ziva packed for him. However he forgot that he should lift it with his right hand rather than with his left one and winced, groaned as a piercing pain shot through his left side. "Ow! Well, I'm not completely fine yet, but I'm going to be." Tony was just as stubborn as his doctor.

"Well, if you think so I can't do anything else to keep you here. Here are your discharge papers. We need two signatures from you. It just states that you left the hospital against my medical advice. Just the usual insurance matters." Dr. Stuart gave Tony the papers who signed it quickly and handed it back without really reading anything. He knew what was stated in those forms. "Thanks. Now….you're free to go. But please contact me if you think something is wrong or when the pain becomes too much."

"Promise." Dr. Stuart bid his farewell to Tony and Ziva and left the room. Tony reached again for his bag, but this time he used the right side. Even while using the right side it was a little bit uncomfortable but it didn't hurt as much as last time. However it was bad enough for him to grimace, but Ziva just rolled her eyes and said nothing at all. She knew it was useless to offer him help because she was sure he'd shot her down as soon as she would open her mouth. Ziva led him silently to the parking lot.

"Did you already chose where you will be staying? Gibbs, McGee or with me? Just so you know, the offer from the FBI is out of question. We have already seen how good they are…" Even if the incident wouldn't have happened, the FBI wasn't really the favorite agency of the team. Until now he hadn't informed the team of his decision yet. Not because he hadn't chosen already, he just hadn't told them because he very well knew that they wouldn't like it. "You know Ziva, I want to be on my own turf and not feeling like a guest. If I'd went with you or McGee, you would fuss over me and that's not something I want. Sure, I could go to Gibbs. He definitely wouldn't fuss over me, but I still would feel like intruding and I know that I'm off the case right now, so I want you all fully concentrated. I want you to catch this son of a bitch."

As he already had expected, Ziva didn't like where this was going. "Tony, you can't go back to your apartment. Hunt could already be expecting you an-" Before she could state any further reasons, Tony interrupted her. "Don't worry, I won't stay at my apartment."

Now Ziva was confused. He didn't want to stay with any of them, but he won't go to his apartment either? "Where do you want to stay then?"

"I've already told you that my father had called the other day. He brought up our old family cabin outside of D.C. that I've totally forgotten about over the years. He thought it'd be a good place to recover and I think he is right."

"You want to stay at a cabin in the middle of nowhere? A cabin that's probably providing no protection at all? I mean, do not get me wrong, I'm sure it is the perfect place to recover, but not when you're a target of an assassin!" They arrived at Ziva's car and Tony put the bag on the backseat. As he sat down on the passenger side and fastened the belt, Ziva started the engine.

"Well, I have to admit that it offers not really an ideal protection, but still I'll be going there and nobody is going to talk me out of this."

Ziva replied nothing and stepped hard on the accelerator. _This drive will be hell._

* * *

"Agent DiNozzo. Welcome back." The team was in the bullpen as Director Vance greeted him. "It's nice to see you on your feet again."

"Believe me, Director. It's nice to _be_ on my feet again."

It was really a rare sight for them but Gibbs smiled, even when it was a small one. "We looked through the hospital footage. Though he tried to stay unseen we still were able to identify him. It had been Hunt."

"Can we trace him? " asked Fornell.

McGee had already tried to follow Hunt's movements with the help of different camera footages but he couldn't determine where he disappeared to. "I had been able to follow him a few blocks, but then I lost him. I have no idea where he could be. He just disappeared."

The search was in full swing again and everybody was looking for new information, everybody wanted to get Hunt and while Tony watched them working he couldn't believe that they oversaw one little detail. "You do actually know that catching Hunt isn't the final solution, don't you? If we have him, then what? Another one will take his place and everything will begin from the start again. This won't end until we find the one who hired him. As long as we don't have the one who's behind all of this, I'll never be safe."

If this situation wouldn't be so serious he would have laughed right then as he saw the faces of his colleagues. Suddenly the whole bullpen was silent and everybody was looking at him. "Seriously? Did you really think that this all would just end with Hunt?"

Unsurprisingly, it was Gibbs who broke the silence first. "Course not. But Hunt is a start. He can give us names. You told us yourself that you have never been able to find any valid proof. Now we know someone who could give us – _you_ – a lead."

"He won't tell us anything."

"Really? And you know that why exactly?" The team watched attentive the quick exchange between Gibbs and Tony.

"Hunt is a professional killer. He wouldn't have been hired for this if he would blurt out everything he knows the second he's sitting in interrogation."

"We just have to find the right bait for him."

Tony looked unbelievingly at Gibbs. "So you really think you could get something out of him then?"

"Everyone has a weakness. We'll just have to find his."

"We're not even able to track him down, Gibbs! How do you want to find his weakness?"

Gibbs wanted to reply something instantly, but somebody else finally dared to interfere. "How about we're splitting up into two groups. One group is searching for Hunt and the other one is looking for the bigger fish?" suggested Fornell. "I'd say the FBI is looking for Hunt."

Gibbs considered briefly his suggestion but in the end Fornell was right, they'd be more efficient if they'd split the work. "Alright, Fornell. But I want every new intel you get about Hunt."

"Deal." replied Fornell and grabbed his coffee. "By the way, did you already decide on your temporary living situation?" asked Fornell turning to Tony.

"Yes. I won't need the safe house, but thank you though."

"Alright. See you later and please keep your head low."

"Where will you stay then?" asked McGee curiously. While Gibbs and McGee waited for his answer, Ziva just sat on her chair and lifted expectantly one eyebrow. She was waiting like the others, but on the contrary to them, she already knew the answer. She was just waiting for the following discussion.

"At the family cabin of the DiNozzo's."

"You want to stay in an unprotected cabin?" frowned Gibbs.

Before McGee could too, announce his dislike for the cabin, Gibbs continued after considering it for a second. "Alright." Everyone looked stunned at Gibbs. McGee couldn't believe that he was fine with this, Ziva had hoped he would talk him out of this and maybe give him a head slap that would've gotten this stupid idea out of Tony's head and Tony was stunned that his boss was really okay with this. He at least had expected a debate in which he had to fight for his decision. "But only under one condition."

If Tony would be able to go to the cabin, he was ready to agree almost on all conditions Gibbs would state. "You won't go alone." _Well, he should have seen that one coming._

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**Please review, I love to read them :)**

**I hope you'll have a good start into the new week.**


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